


The Safe House

by palmtreelights



Category: Power Rangers, Power Rangers Dino Thunder
Genre: Blood, Breaking and Entering, Dark, Death Threats, Elsa needs therapy, Espionage, F/F, Flirting, Humor, I Don't Even Know, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Torture, Kinda, Making Out, Romance, Seduction, Slight Canon Divergence, Wounds, hell everyone needs therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-17
Updated: 2016-04-17
Packaged: 2018-06-02 20:10:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6580549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/palmtreelights/pseuds/palmtreelights
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hayley is the target of Elsa's seduction plot, which, as would be expected, backfires spectacularly on both of them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Safe House

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to the usual suspects for laughing with me every time I brought up my multishipper problems and for putting up with my running commentary. You're the best, end of story. Thank you also for not being surprised when I told you this was getting long. I have a problem. Or the opposite of a problem.
> 
> This was supposed to be for Femslash February, but uh obviously I'm a little late. Oops.

She’s just closed up the café one night when Elsa appears just outside the building, a cruel smirk on her face as Hayley turns to head for the parking lot.

“You here to kill the techie?” Hayley asks, as if they were only talking about the weather. “Gotta say, that’s not a bad plan.”  
  
Elsa chuckles. “What, and make it _boring_ to fight the Rangers? No, I came here to meet the mastermind behind their arsenal, the person who’s stolen so many of my master’s victories.”  
  
Scoffing, Hayley rolls her eyes. “Okay. Blame your failures on me. I’m honored.”  
  
Tilting her head to the side, Elsa’s smirk goes colder, the amusement from before gone from her face. “You must make them so proud. So tell me, is it your dear old _Tommy_ you serve, or are they _all_ your superiors?”  
  
Hayley narrows her eyes. “I don’t ‘serve’ anyone.”  
  
“Oh Hayley,” Elsa taunts. “You poor, ignorant fool. _Everyone_ serves _someone_.”  
  
“Maybe where _you_ come from. I do what I do because I want to.”  
  
“Yes, and what you want seems to be to inconvenience my master.” Scowling, Elsa walks towards her. “Your Dr. Oliver is a terrible boss, though. Making you do work for him and those little children, on top of—” she stops and gestures to the café “—running your little shop? What a slave driver.”  
  
When the instinct to pause hits her, Hayley fights it back and rolls her eyes to buy time. She’s aware of how hard she works, between helping the Rangers and running the café. She’s given up nearly every spare moment she has to the fight against Mesogog and his armies, all by choice. Tommy knows that, and so do the others, and they all appreciate it. They don’t make demands of her time, even when they expect that she’ll be there when they need her. And of course they would they would expect as much. She _wants_ them to depend on her, to trust her. There’s no reason for Elsa to know that, or even to think about it.  
  
And there’s no way Hayley will let her see just how much of herself Hayley gives the team.  
  
“Are we done here?” she asks, motioning towards the parking lot. “I have to go home and water my plants.”  
  
“He lets you keep plants,” Elsa remarks, that unkind smile back full force. “How nice. I get to play with plants, too. And pets.”  
  
“So go do that. Bye.”  
  
Elsa doesn’t move, so Hayley walks past her, head held high and keys gripped tight, ready to retaliate should Elsa think to attack her. She doesn’t, though. She must have really meant it, that she was just here to meet her.  
  
Weird—but then, what _isn’t_ weird about Mesogog and his warriors?  
  
As she gets in her car, Hayley glances back in time to see Elsa disappear into an invisiportal just outside the café entrance. Good to know where it is, in case the Rangers ever need it in the future. That in mind, she turns the key in the ignition and starts on her way home.

 

* * *

  
  
It’s maybe three weeks later when Hayley sees Elsa again.  
  
It’s after a fight, but she still looks put together as she glowers at Hayley with her arms crossed.  
  
“Magic,” Hayley mutters, rolling her eyes. “Let me guess: this time, you’re actually here to kill me.”  
  
“I would’ve done that by now if I were,” Elsa sneers. “It’d be too easy. Can you even fight?”  
  
“Wanna find out?”  
  
Elsa holds up a hand as if to stop her. “Spare me. I’m not looking for another battle.”  
  
A taunt sits ready and waiting in Hayley’s mind, but she holds it back. More important is the question she’s had in mind since she first saw her tonight. “What brings you to see me this cloudy night?”

Lifting a hand to her chin, Elsa glances up and down the walk, her scowl growing more vicious by the second. Finally, meeting Hayley’s gaze, she growls, “I need your help.”

It takes every ounce of strength Hayley possesses not to laugh in Elsa’s face; she does not, however, suppress a smirk. “Did— Sorry, did you just ask me for help?”

“ _No_.” Elsa rolls her eyes. “I _told_ you that I need your help. And you _will_ help me.”

“Oh, this is going to be great,” Hayley murmurs, shaking her head. “What could _you_ need _my_ help with?”

With another glance at their surroundings, Elsa walks over to Hayley. “This,” she says, and she lifts her hand to show Hayley a ring on her middle finger.

Hayley frowns. “You’re going to have to be a little clearer than that.”

“I can’t take it off,” Elsa mutters through clenched teeth. “It’s a gadget gone wrong. In an hour, it’ll be tight enough to cut off my circulation, and I’m not in the mood to amputate my own finger. I’m right-handed. I’d like to have all the fingers on that hand, if not the other, though having all ten would be best.”

“Oh my god,” Hayley laughs.

Elsa’s eyes flash, and she reaches for her sword. “If you need _incentive_ , I’ll be more than happy to give you some.”

“Sorry,” Hayley murmurs, physically biting her cheeks until she can look at Elsa without laughing. “Okay. But if I do help you, what’s in it for me?”

Releasing the hilt of her sword, Elsa lifts her chin and looks down her nose at Hayley. “You can keep it. For science.”

Hayley gives a long blink. “‘For science.’” Yes, she’s curious about how such a device would work, but more than that, she’s not sure it’s a good idea to pass up the opportunity to have a piece of technology from Mesogog’s lab to study. “Fine,” she says finally. “I have a toolkit in my car. Come on.”

She leads the way through the parking lot, pretending she missed the way Elsa had sighed and relaxed a little when she agreed to relieve her of the constricting ring. Why Mesogog would want a thing like that, Hayley doesn’t want to know. Her interest is less about its purpose and more about what goes into it.

Her toolkit is in the trunk of her car, a multi-purpose box whose contents have gotten her out of more scraps than she cares to admit. It takes her only a minute or so—filled with admonitions from Elsa against cutting off her finger in the process of removing the ring, and bored reassurances from Hayley that she is insulted by the assumption that she’d be so clumsy—but she succeeds.

Once freed from the ring’s clutches, Elsa alternates between shaking out her hand and rubbing her finger, while Hayley holds the ring up to the closest street lamp for a preliminary inspection.

“How were you able to get it to shrink without it losing any mass?”

“That’s for you to figure out on your own,” Elsa answers. “Our deal has been fulfilled. Enjoy your gift.”

With that, she heads back to the invisiportal by the café’s entrance, brushing brusquely past Hayley as she goes.

 

* * *

 

Elsa is inspecting Hayley’s house plants one night when Hayley comes in from the café.

“How on earth did you get in here?” Hayley demands as she shuts and locks the door behind her. No sense leaving it open for anyone else to just come in uninvited. One intruder is more than enough.

“Invisiportal,” Elsa answers, rubbing the leaves of a fern between her fingers. “It’s very healthy. Will it grow into a weapon?”

“It’s a _house plant_ ,” Hayley huffs. “Did you put an invisiportal in my _house_?”

“Yes.”

Hanging her keys from the hook by the door, Hayley shakes her head. “How did you even find out I live here?”

Glancing at her, Elsa releases the leaves and shrugs. “You led me here. Very kindly, actually.”

“How—” The question doesn’t even finish forming in Hayley’s mind before the answer comes to her. “That ring.”

Elsa nods. “I’m _still_ surprised you fell for that.”

“That makes two of us.” Hayley sighs. By now, Hayley is comfortable believing Elsa isn’t here to kill her, though she still can’t figure out exactly why she’s doing this, so she doesn’t call Tommy to come chase Elsa out. “Fine. You’re here. What do you want this time.”

“A break.”

“A break,” Hayley repeats, eyebrows shooting up. “From what?”

“The _lab_ , obviously.” Elsa rolls her eyes. “For being the brains behind the Rangers’ technology, you’re awfully bad at figuring things out.”

Hayley takes a deep breath as she shrugs off her jacket, and takes her time hanging said jacket as she exhales slowly. “What, no new constricting jewelry to try on?”

Groaning, Elsa crosses over to Hayley’s couch and takes a seat. “Zeltrax is in an impossible mood. I was starting to get a headache.”

“So you came here to give _me_ a headache.”

Elsa smirks. “Of course.”

“Okay,” Hayley sighs. “I’m too tired to care, so as long as you don’t destroy anything or try to kill me, you can take your break here.”

Smirk widening, Elsa leans back in the couch and props her boots on the coffee table. “Now that you’re here, you can work that machine in the kitchen and make us some coffee.”

“No. I’m not making coffee after a full day working at a _coffee shop_.” Hayley rolls her eyes. “I didn’t even know you drink coffee.”

“There’s so much you and your council of masters don’t know about me.”

“They’re not my masters.” If it ever seems like they’re giving her orders, they aren’t. They’re requests made in the heat of battle, or in the rush to get a gadget finalized or an analysis completed in time to foil Mesogog’s latest plan.

Elsa laughs. “Keep telling yourself that. At least _my_ master is clear about the fact that he’s in charge.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that you have to do _exactly_ what he says?” Since Elsa is clearly not interested in attacking her, Hayley goes on as if she weren’t even there, crossing to the living room to check on her plants. “All the time, that’s all you do. He gives you orders, and you follow them.”

“Why would that bother me?” Frowning, Elsa inspects her cuticles. “He’s going to rule the world, and I’ll be at his side. Following his orders now is the best possible thing I could do.”

Scoffing, Hayley shakes her head. “He’s not going to rule the world. We’re not going to let him.”

Clicking her tongue, Elsa shakes her head. “Keep telling yourself that.”

“Get your boots off my coffee table.”

Giving a low, dark chuckle, Elsa smirks. “I don’t take orders from you.”

Hayley crosses her arms. “You do if you’re in my house.”

For all that she is a fearsome warrior, Elsa acts like a teenager now, sighing sharply as she stands. “If you were bothered that I’m here, you could’ve just _said_ so.”

“Do you know _anything_ about body language?”

“Everything, actually.” Elsa walks up to Hayley—no, _saunters_ up to her, steps slow and fluid and deliberate as she looks Hayley up and down. “You’re not as mad as you’re acting.” When she’s right in front of her, Elsa meets her gaze and wrinkles her nose. “And you really need to fix your eyebrows.”

Hayley frowns, opening her mouth to tell her off, but before she even finishes drawing in the breath to form the words with, Elsa lifts a hand towards the ceiling and disappears into the invisiportal that brought her here in the first place.

In the sudden, almost absolute silence, Hayley gazes out at the room. “Tommy’s gonna love this,” she mutters, and heads into the kitchen to contact him.

 

* * *

 

Inventory is the worst.

Hayley finishes up late at night, wide awake yet bleary-eyed from all the coffee she downed to help her stay focused. The caffeine should last her long enough to get home at this hour, and the mostly empty streets will help make the drive quick and painless.

As she checks to make sure the door has locked, she considers the cost and time savings of hiring someone to do inventory counts for her. She could at least request a few proposals. But no, this is less expensive, and it’s not something she has to do frequently enough that it’s more than a passing inconvenience.

It’s the same discussion she has with herself after every inventory count, and the same conclusion, always reached when she starts to walk to her car.

Tonight is only different because Elsa drops in from the nearest invisiportal.

She quite literally drops in this time, wobbling as she lands in a messy crouched position, face twisted in a grimace. Her left arm is cradled against her chest, and she breathes heavily in the silence of the night. It’s a few seconds before she stands, hissing what Hayley guesses are curses and swears under her breath the entire time, stopping only when she looks up and sees Hayley.

For a few seconds, they both stare each other, Hayley numb to the world, Elsa angry at it.

Then Elsa sneers—or tries to—and snaps, “ _You_. Why are you here.”

Hayley motions to the café. “I own this place.”

“Your master kept you late in the lab, so you had to work late to pay the bills?”

“Look, I just spent hours in there counting every item in the shop. I’m not going to tell you again that I don’t have a master.” Well, she has the IRS to appease, but so does everyone else.

“Hmph.” Elsa straightens, wincing. “Well. Good for you. Now go home.”

That’s exactly what Hayley _should_ do, and it’s certainly what she _wants_ to do; but against her every good instinct, she stays where she is and nods at Elsa. “You look hurt.”

“You’re _so_ observant.” Elsa rolls her eyes and scowls down at her arm. “Sparring accident.” Before Hayley can get a word in, she smirks and adds, “You should see Zeltrax.”

“I’d rather not.”

If it were anyone else, Hayley would offer to help them. But Elsa isn’t attacking her—and who knows? Maybe showing her some kindness will start to change her mind on whose side she should be on. What would Tommy do? He wouldn’t fight an injured enemy, that’s for sure. In fact, when she told him about the portal in her living room, he’d told her to keep an eye on it and call him if there was ever any danger, either from Elsa or the portal. Otherwise, she should proceed with caution.

It’s too late to debate this any longer, so with a sigh, Hayley shakes her head. “Fine. Do you want some help with that?”

Arching an eyebrow, Elsa stares at her for a long moment. “There’s nothing in it for you.”

“It’ll get you away from my coffee shop.”

“Fair enough. Your car?”

“Not this time.” As terrible an idea as it is, Hayley unlocks the door to the café and leads Elsa inside, showing her uninvited guest to the couch while she goes to get the first aid kit. It’s a quick errand, and soon she’s back and sitting next to Elsa. “Show me.”

Hayley isn’t squeamish; she’s seen a fair number of injuries in her lifem, to say nothing of the mad science experiments she grew up around. But when Elsa extends her injured arm, Hayley can’t help but grimace at the sight of the torn-up, bloodied leather of her gauntlet, and the long gash along her forearm.

“Zeltrax is a robot,” she says as she pulls out a wad of sterile gauze and soaks it with saline solution. “What could’ve happened to him that’s worse than this?”

“I still _have_ my forearm.”

“Oookay.” Hayley cuts off what’s left of the gauntlet, then gingerly cleans out the wound. “It’s shallow. You got lucky.”

“Just hurry up.”

“You’re welcome, Elsa.”

“I’m not thanking you. I didn’t ask you to do this.”

All the more reason she _should_ thank her, but Hayley lets the subject drop, working in silence until she’s covered the injury and secured the dressing with more gauze.

“You can wear a gauntlet over it,” Hayley says, snapping the first aid kit shut. “It’ll keep it more secure.”

Elsa says nothing in response, absorbed in inspecting Hayley’s work. Hayley takes the silence to her advantage and puts the kit back in its place, throwing the used materials in the trash can on her way there.

“Why did you do this?”

Pausing mid-walk back to the couch, Hayley frowns. The question is quiet, and not at all as sharp as nearly everything else she has ever heard Elsa say.

“I don’t know,” she admits, heading over to Elsa. “I guess because I’m not one of the bad guys.”

“How _noble_ ,” Elsa remarks but there is less acid in her tone than Hayley expected there to be.

Maybe Hayley was right to think this act of kindness will begin to undo Elsa’s loyalty to Mesogog. Maybe they’ll get an ally out of this.

Standing, Elsa sneers at her. “You really shouldn’t have.”

“I know, I know.” Hayley rolls her eyes and motions to the door. “Moment’s over now, so go.”

Taking Hayley’s arm, Elsa nods and holds her chin high. “Lead the way, my little nurse.”

“If you ever call me that again, I’ll design an actual constricting ring for you to wear, I swear.” But even as she says so, Hayley heads for the door, Elsa in tow, dimly aware that she fully expects to see her enemy again.

 

* * *

 

Hayley is barely through the door when Elsa greets her, a low but somehow cheerful, “Good evening, Hayley,” ringing out across the living room and making Hayley jump.

Shutting the door—hard—Hayley turns and faces her. “Not aga—did you change your hair?”

“You noticed! I’m flattered.” Elsa pretends to fluff her new hairdo. “Do you like it?”

“Uh…” How is Hayley meant to answer that? “It’s—”

“Are you _blushing_?”

“ _No_.”

“You _are_.” Giving a dark chuckle, Elsa starts to walk towards her. “Don’t be shy, I don’t bite—unless asked to.”

“I’m _angry_ ,” Hayley snaps, suddenly all too aware that she _is_ hot in the face.  She’s not blind, after all. “I’ve been angry for hours. I get terrible road rage.”

“Road rage? _Really_?” Stopping a few feet from Hayley, Elsa smirks. “Oo, such a bad girl. You’re even more of a good guy than I thought.”

Rolling her eyes, Hayley hangs her keys by the door. “Get out of my house.”

“Now, that’s _not_ how you treat a guest.”

“You’re breaking and entering. Get out.”

“I haven’t broken a single thing. If anything, you should thank me. Your plant needed watering in this heat wave. You’re lucky I came in when I did. You should’ve seen how wilted it looked earlier.”

“Great. Thanks for your kindness. Now get out.”

“You’re so _rude_. I’m only here to thank you for last week.”

That makes Hayley stop and stare. For all that it sounded like she was taunting her, Elsa looks sincere. There’s no smile on her face, but there’s also no smirk or glare, only a slight frown that tells Hayley she might actually be offended.

But that can’t be right.

“You said you weren’t going to thank me for that because you didn’t ask me to help you.”

Brushing back her bangs—needlessly, as they are not in disarray, and they fall right back into place as soon as she leaves them alone—Elsa shrugs. “I changed my mind.”

Nope, Hayley doesn’t buy it. She narrows her eyes. “Did you get injured again?”

“Of course not,” Elsa huffs. “Why can’t you just accept that I’m here to show you my gratitude?”

“Because the last time you gave me something for my trouble, you used it to track me.”

“What ever happened to ‘forgive and forget’?”

“It got crushed along with my trust in anything you might ever have to say to me.”

“Well, that was your own choice.”

“What—” Hayley sighs. “Okay. Either you tell me why you’re here, or you get out.”

Rolling her eyes, Elsa throws up her hands and lets them fall with a light slap against her pants. “Lord Mesogog is berating Zeltrax for his most recent failure, and I thought I’d avoid becoming collateral damage.”

“So you came _here_.”

“Why of _course_. No one would think to look for me here.”

“I told Tommy you put an invisiportal here.”

“Oh _no_ ,” Elsa gasps, lifting both hands to her face, her eyes wide with affected fear. “I’m _so scared_ of what your master could do to me!”

“ _I do not have a master_.”

“Then you have no reason not to let me stay here for a while.”

As Elsa puts her hands on her hips and gives Hayley a wide smirk, Hayley shakes her head. “I need a drink.”

“Oh, I’d love one, too. Whatever you’re having.”

Hayley doesn’t argue that, merely heads for the kitchen in search of a glass for them each. If Elsa is going to torment her, then Hayley may as well get her a little drunk and see what information she’ll divulge about Mesogog’s plans.

 

* * *

 

An hour later, Hayley is buzzed but clear-headed, and Elsa is—well, Hayley can’t tell. She’s acting more or less the same as she always does, except more dramatic, more expressive, more… cheerful, almost, though it’s a darker sort of cheer than Hayley’s. It’s hard to tell under all that make-up, but it doesn’t seem like Elsa’s cheeks are flushed from drink or laughter or both.

Hayley’s certainly are. Her skin feels pleasantly hot. How long has it been since she’s had a good drink or two? Definitely since before this whole mess with Mesogog started. This is nice, even though there’s no guarantee that Elsa won’t kill her. It’s not as if there’s anyone to stop her.

But if she were going to, she already would have. Hayley has given her plenty of chances already. She tells herself that every time the thought comes to her, which is every few minutes, because she’s on high alert despite her pleasant, mildly inebriated state.

“I could’ve sworn you had some kind of dress code,” she says, narrowing her eyes as if it’s suddenly hard to focus her gaze. “Or a uniform. Mesogog seems like the kind of boss who’s really overbearing about everything.”

Lifting her glass to catch the light from overhead, Elsa shrugs. “Oh, he doesn’t care about that, as long as I do what I have to do.”

“You always fail, though.”

“Yes, thanks to _you_.”

Now it’s Hayley who shrugs, giving a low, throaty chuckle. “I can’t help that I’m a genius.”

“And I can’t help that I look so good.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Hayley pretends to take a sip of her drink. “I like it. The whole new look. That thing on your chin was pretty weird.”

“Oh?” Elsa sits up straighter, narrowing her eyes in a glare that’s tempered by her wide, smug grin. “Well, good thing your opinion doesn’t matter.”

“The hair’s much better now, too,” Hayley adds, nodding at the ponytail. “That’s a nice shade of purple.”

“I know.” Elsa grabs one of the purple braids and pulls it over her shoulder to get a good look at it, rolling it between her fingers thoughtfully. “It really _pops_ against the black.” Shrugging again, releases the braid and reaches for some of Hayley’s hair. It would seem like something completely normal for her except for how her eyes narrow as she meets Hayley’s gaze. “I could kill you right now,” she whispers, twirling the lock of red hair around her finger. “No one would know it. No one would come to help you.”  
  
If Elsa means to scare her, she’s failed. Still, Hayley glances at Elsa’s hand, as if nervous, then gives a small, smug smile. “But then you wouldn’t have me around to come bother when you’re bored.”  
  
“You _are_ a smart one.” With a low chuckle, Elsa tugs on Hayley’s hair. “Shame you’re on the wrong side.”  
  
This could be it, the opportunity Hayley has been waiting for, the chance to get Elsa to spill Mesogog’s secrets, maybe even to defect. All she needs to do is play the game. She shrugs as she puts her glass down on the coffee table, like they’re discussing how they take their tea, like this doesn’t matter at all. “That’s up for debate.”  
  
“Your talents are wasted on those children and their self-righteous teacher.” Rolling her eyes, Elsa lets go of Hayley’s hair and traces a finger down her cheek.  
  
Hayley forces herself not to shiver.  
  
“You could achieve so much,” Elsa continues in a whisper. “My master would hold you in high esteem—as high as me. Definitely higher than Zeltrax, that hot-headed brute.”  
  
Frowning, Hayley tilts her head a bit. “I’d heard you two were dating.”  
  
Pulling back her hand, Elsa wrinkles her nose. “Who told you such a disgusting lie? He’s _far_ beneath me.” With a deep breath, she smooths her features back into their calm but sinister norm. “I have much better taste. I thought you, of all people, would know that.”  
  
Tension among the ranks. The Rangers can use that. Hayley files the knowledge away as Elsa places a finger under her chin, tipping Hayley’s head back a little. When their eyes meet, Hayley murmurs, “Holy cow.” She pauses, smug smile widening. “This whole time, from the very beginning, you’ve been flirting with me.”  
  
“Took you long enough to catch on, _genius_.”  
  
“It was a little hard to tell. Your version of flirting reads like you’re plotting my death.”  
  
“Fair enough.” Pulling back her hand, Elsa sets her glass on the coffee table. Hayley stays right where she is as Elsa leans closer, turning in her seat so she is fully facing Hayley. “You’re not protesting, though. Dare I read that as the interest being mutual?”  
  
Shrugging, Hayley rests sideways against the back of the couch. “I guess you could say that, yeah.”  
  
“You _guess_?” Elsa clicks her tongue. “I’m not going to act on a _guess_.”  
  
It’s a gamble, but Hayley makes her move. “Act on _this_ ,” she says, and she leans in to give Elsa a firm kiss.  
  
The bet pays off. Elsa responds with surprising gentleness, her lips soft and smooth against Hayley’s. There’s a moment where she wonders if Elsa’s lipstick will leave marks, but then Elsa is pulling up against her, kisses turning rough and hungry, and Hayley forgets she’d gone into this with a plan and just enjoys it for what it is. It’s been way too long, and it’ll be nearly impossible to go out socially so long as there’s still a bad guy to fight.  
  
Then again, she’s making out with said bad guy’s number one henchwoman, so maybe this’ll work out no matter what. Even if they’re both doing this for information, or for any other dishonest, mission-centric purpose, there’s no rule that says the game can’t be fun for them both.

It’s a few long minutes before they break apart for more than just a breath. Hayley manages to stop herself before touching her forehead to Elsa’s. This isn’t real, so there’s no sense going that far. Besides, nothing about her kisses had been forced, and she knows from prior experience that it shows.

“Nice way to say thanks,” says Hayley, arching an eyebrow.

Elsa smirks. “Watering your house plant was me thanking you. This…” She lets the sentence trail, shrugs, and stands. “I’ll thank you for the drinks some other time.”

Hayley meets and holds her gaze until Elsa has left, gone through the invisiportal she could’ve chosen never to reveal. This has only yielded a crumb’s worth of information, but it’ll do. More important is the thought of when ‘some other time’ will be, and Hayley tells herself that’s only because next time, she’ll get more information about the enemy’s plans.

 

* * *

 

A few nights later, Hayley finds Elsa in the parking lot, arms crossed as she stands a few feet from Hayley’s car, as if she’s guarding it.

“It’s about time,” Elsa hisses, as Hayley walks over, keys in hand. “The schedule on your shop’s door says you closed forever ago.”

“Closed _for business_ ,” Hayley clarifies, unlocking one of the back doors and throwing her bag inside. “I still have closing procedures to get through after that.”

“Hire help,” Elsa snaps. “You kept me waiting too long.”

“Maybe you should’ve told me you were going to wait for me in the first place.” Shutting the back door, Hayley nods at her. “So what is it this time? Did your boss chew you out again?”

“I’m researching transportation methods.”

“Sure you are.”

“It’s true. I might build something like this.” Gesturing to the car, Elsa shrugs. “Something nicer, though. More comfortable. Standing around to gloat gets old fast.”

“I bet it does, since you always have to eat your words when the Rangers beat you.”

“Why don’t you sass Zeltrax instead? He deserves it much more than I do, what with his obsession with your precious Dr. Oliver.”

“Because he’s not the one who set up an invisiportal in my house and keeps coming to look for me outside my café. Speaking of the portal, you could’ve just shown up at my house if you’re bored.”

“I’m _doing research_ ,” Elsa states, rolling her eyes. “So I came to accompany you on your car ride home. Two birds with one stone.”

Scoffing, Hayley rolls her eyes. “You’re pretty creative with this whole flirting thing, I will say that much.”

“So is that a yes?”

“Only if you go change.” When Elsa responds by arching her eyebrows, Hayley clarifies, “I’m not driving around with you looking like you walked straight out of a goth chic store.”

Elsa sighs. “Fine.” She shuts her eyes and holds very still, and right before Hayley’s eyes, she changes, hair and make-up and clothes becoming _normal_. A white cardigan over a grey shirt, ash-grey slacks, dark hair that looks like it goes halfway down her back, and natural, barely-there make-up. The transformation takes a second or two at most, and once it’s complete, she opens her eyes and looks at Hayley. “Better?”

“Wow,” Hayley blurts. “I mean, yeah. Much. Let’s go.”

Elsa flashes her a smug grin, and even though she looks almost entirely like a different person now, her eyes are the same, brown and dark and dangerous.

And pretty.

But Hayley pushes that thought from her mind as she unlocks the car doors for them both and climbs inside. As she pulls out onto the road, she shoots Elsa a quick glance and tells her, “You’re a terrible liar.”  
  
“Am I?”  
  
Hayley nods. “Why would Mesogog send you out to do research at this hour?”  
  
“This is a personal project, and I’m off duty right now.”  
  
At a stop sign, Hayley looks over at her, eyes narrowed. “You actually have shifts, and he doesn’t know where you are.”  
  
“Don’t trouble yourself with the way things are done in my master’s lair.” Elsa waves towards the street ahead of them. “Drive. Tell me about your car.”  
  
Sighing heavily, Hayley eases the car into a turn. “Only if you tell me the real reason you didn’t just go to my house by way of invisiportal.”  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Elsa shrug. “Curiosity. And boredom.”  
  
“I don’t know how I feel about being your go-to anti-boredom person.”  
  
“As if you didn’t like it, too, last time?”

Hayley pretends to be very focused on crossing the next intersection. It doesn’t have traffic lights, so the act could work.

“Blushing _again_.” Elsa snickers. “You’re so easy.”  
  
“Yeah, sure. I bet that’s why you can’t stay away.”  
  
“Don’t we all have our vices?” Elsa reaches for a lock of Hayley’s hair, twisting it around her finger until she’s tugging gently at her scalp. “You have such a nice hair color.”  
  
“Can you wait the five minutes it’ll take to get home?”  
  
“I thought you liked it when I did this before.”  
  
“Yeah, _before_. Not while I’m driving.”  
  
“Noted.” Not a moment later, she lets go of Hayley’s hair, brushing her fingers along her shoulder as she pulls back her hand. “Now, tell me about your car.”  
  
That, at least, Hayley can do while keeping her eyes on the road. The make and model, the engine, the gas mileage, and its history in her care are an easy story to tell. That, plus Elsa’s few but intelligent questions on it all, fill the few minutes it takes to get to the house, through getting inside and hanging keys and light jackets by the door.  
  
“But being that you have the invisiportal network at your disposal,” Hayley says as she turns and faces her somewhat-less-unwanted-than-last-time guest, “your life is a lot easier.”  
  
“You’d think so.”  
  
“What does _that_ mean?”  
  
Shrugging, Elsa crosses to the living room, reaching out to brush her fingertips against the leaves of the fern she claims to like. “My job doesn’t exactly come with perks.”  
  
“Magic seems like a pretty cool perk.”  
  
“I would say the punishment chamber balances that out. Probably even outweighs it.”  
  
She says it so casually that it takes a second for Hayley’s mind to catch up. Sure, Mesogog having a dungeon of some sort makes sense. He’s a textbook bad guy, it would more than make sense that he’d have one. It’s probably a lab where he runs all sorts of experiments.

But to call it a _punishment chamber_ makes it seem like too much.

“Funny,” Hayley says, but it sounds shaky and weak even to her.

Elsa stares at her, quiet for several long seconds. “I’m not laughing.”

All at once, Elsa’s gaze becomes too intense to bear, and Hayley looks away and walks over to the couch. “Is that the real reason you come here? To…” She trails off, gesturing in the general direction of the portal. “To avoid that?”

Expression still serious, Elsa shrugs. “Does it matter? I’m here.”

Hayley lets out a slow sigh. If she says it doesn’t matter, it’s both a lie and a point against her in this little game they’re playing. Because there’s no way that they’re not both fishing for information. Of that, Hayley is sure. But if she says it _does_ , then is it taking this too far? Will it send Elsa back to Mesogog’s lair, taking all her knowledge of his plans back with her?

There has to be a compromise, and she has to find it fast, because already Elsa is walking towards where the portal is, every step slow and reluctant.

Finally, Hayley says, “Well, I’m glad you feel safe here.”

Elsa stops and looks at her. “Yes. _Safe_. With the friend of my enemy.” She rolls her eyes.

“I haven’t called the Rangers on you yet, have I?”

“And I haven’t killed you.”

It’s hard to tell if it’s the changed appearance that makes Elsa seem sincere, or if this is a rare and fleeting moment where she isn’t speaking as a servant of evil, but as herself. Hayley’s stomach twists itself into knots. Has she been wrong? Is this the moment Elsa kills her? Or is she right, and this is when Elsa decides to trust her and switch sides?

Narrowing her eyes, Elsa walks up to Hayley, and faster than Hayley can blink, Elsa grabs her by the shoulders and shoves her back against the wall, knocking the air out of her.

“Safety is an illusion,” she hisses as Hayley works to catch her breath. “It’s a story people tell themselves to help them sleep at night. I could bring Tommy Oliver’s head back to the lair on a platter, and I _still_ wouldn’t be safe. This—your house—is just a reprieve. I could set it on fire right now with both of us in here, and by the time someone comes to help, we’d both be dead.

“So tell me.” She leans in closer, lowering her voice. “Do you feel safe here, knowing how easily your life and everything you own could be wiped off the face of the planet?”

Forcing herself to take even breaths, Hayley doesn’t answer right away. A few moments ago, when she thought she was finally being attacked, she’d been afraid; but now that she’s heard what Elsa has to say, she slows her racing thoughts and considers it. Yes, Elsa _could_ kill her, could reduce her life to ashes and rubble and bones with little effort. But even now, she isn’t hurting her—Elsa’s grip is firm but careful. Hayley will not bruise from this.

Her house may be just a reprieve from the world and from whatever horrors Elsa sees in Mesogog’s lair, but that’s more than enough to make it seem like all of life’s storms are a gentle breeze that cannot harm her.

“Yes,” Hayley answers, her gaze unfaltering as she looks right at Elsa, “because I don’t believe for a second that you actually want to kill me.”

Elsa’s eyebrow twitches, but Hayley holds her ground. It’s a silent stand-off, and Hayley intends to win.

After a few long seconds, Elsa huffs and takes a step back, releasing Hayley. “Maybe _I’m_ the one who’s on the wrong side.”

“So switch.” Hayley pauses, lets the words settle in Elsa’s head. “Join us. We don’t do punishment like that. We don’t really do punishment _at all_ , actually, and we’re kind of a flat organization. Everyone’s opinion matters. No masters. Just friends and advisors, and a leader on the field.”

“That sounds like a lie.” Crossing her arms, Elsa looks away and mutters, “A good one.”

“So—”

“No.”

“Okay.” Hayley shrugs. “Your loss.”

Elsa looks back at Hayley, frowning. “Really.”

It’s a question more than a statement, but Hayley doesn’t answer, willing herself to keep still as Elsa comes closer. She doesn’t look angry anymore, but her eyes are still dark, and Hayley wants to believe she’s working hard to hide how badly she wants to join the fight against Mesogog. That’s better than any number of things the darkness could be, like a thirst for murder, or simple lust, though Hayley wouldn’t fight the latter.

“Convince me,” says Elsa, voice low, soft like her fingers as she slides them into Hayley’s hair.

Hayley shuts her eyes, telling herself neither of them genuinely believes this is real as Elsa whispers against her lips, “Show me what I’m missing.”

“Okay,” Hayley breathes, her answer almost lost in Elsa’s kiss.

 

* * *

 

Elsa’s visits do not become more frequent, but there is a lot less talking involved when she does stop by. Once, she brings a bottle of wine whose origin she refuses to reveal, and they dance a clumsy, drunken waltz in Hayley’s kitchen.

Now and again, the subject of the invisiportal in her house comes up when it’s just Hayley and Tommy in the command center, but Hayley just shrugs and says is seems like Mesogog is waiting for the right moment to use it.

She promises to let him know if Elsa shows up again, fingers crossed behind her latest project. She _will_ tell him, but only if Elsa attacks her or tells her something worth their while.

Because as much as she’s keeping this to herself, Hayley hasn’t forgotten that she’s sleeping with the enemy, and that both of them have much bigger things to worry about than their—arrangement, she supposes is the best word for it. Elsa probably just wants information, and Hayley—

Well, Hayley isn’t sure now what she wants more: to hear Mesogog’s secrets, or to somehow get Elsa to defect. Sure, the Rangers would protest that, would question whether or not Elsa really _means_ it or if she’s just spying, slowly breaking down Hayley’s defenses in order to get into the heart of the Rangers’ operations and take them down from the inside. Hayley reminds herself every day of the possibility.

But what kind of good guy would she be if she didn’t hope for the best?

A practical one, she tells herself as she closes the café one night. The kind of ally the Rangers need her to be. The kind of techie she signed up to be when Tommy asked her to.

She tries to feel glad when Elsa isn’t there when she gets home, but as she lies in bed and waits to fall asleep, Hayley pictures her there, looking like any normal, innocent person as she dozes off, fingers loose and warm between Hayley’s in the quiet of the night.

 

* * *

 

Hayley has barely walked into her bedroom to turn in for the night when there’s a thud and a crash in the living room. Wide awake now, she rushes down the hall, flipping on the hall light as she goes to illuminate the dark house. Her eyes have adjusted by the time she reaches the living room, and even though she knows what to expect, she’s unprepared for the sight of Elsa half collapsed by the coffee table, struggling to stay up off the floor.

“What happened to you?” Hayley breathes, crossing to her and crouching at her side. She sets a hand on her shoulder, but Elsa flinches away, grimacing, whimpering.

Now _that_ is unsettling.

“What happened?” Hayley repeats, more firmly this time. “Whatever it is, you’re safe here—”

“Almost killed me,” Elsa says, voice shaky and hoarse. Her eyes are squeezed shut, have been this entire time, but even in the dim light, it’s easy to see that her eyelashes are damp.

This time when Hayley touches her shoulder, Elsa doesn’t shrug her off. Her skin is cold, and she is shivering and breathing fast and shallow. Hayley shakes her head and forces herself to sound calm. “Who?”

Raising her head, Elsa cracks her eyes open for all of half a second. “Mesogog.”

Hayley freezes. Not _Lord Mesogog_. Not _my master_. Just _Mesogog_. Before she can even begin to think of what he might’ve done to shake Elsa’s loyalty, Elsa’s arms give out. Hayley catches her, keeps her steady for a few seconds to make sure she’s still conscious, then lifts her up a bit. “Come on. You can’t stay on the floor.”

It’s difficult, and she’s sure she’s hurt Elsa in the process, but Hayley manages to get her onto the couch. The bed would be better, but it’s too far for now, too much to ask of her. Even lying flat on her back seems to pain Elsa, but her brow relaxes a little. It’s not much, but Hayley takes it.

“You’re freezing,” Hayley states, for lack of anything of substance to say. She grabs the throw on the back of the couch and drapes it over Elsa. “Where are you injured?”

“H-Head,” Elsa manages. “Everywhere, inside.”

No bleeding, then, and no broken bones, judging from just the short move from floor to couch.

“Okay,” says Hayley, looking over her shoulder at the hall. “I’m going to—”

“Not safe.”

“What?”

When Hayley turns to face her, she is met with Elsa’s tired gaze. She somehow manages to look frightened, even though her eyes are only half open.

“Of course it’s safe here.” Gingerly, Hayley cups Elsa’s cheek. “You’re safe.”

“No,” breathes Elsa, shaking her head as her eyes drift shut. “No one’s safe.”

“Go to sleep,” Hayley tells her, standing. “I’ve got good friends who’ll protect us.”

Elsa is out before Hayley finishes speaking, and it’s only then that Hayley allows herself to feel afraid. Afraid for Elsa and what happened, afraid for herself and the Rangers, afraid for whatever has caused Elsa to come here in her state and warn her.

Fear won’t help her now, though. Tommy might, but then she’d have to fill him in on the whole story, and Hayley isn’t ready for that, not yet. He wouldn’t do to her even a fraction of whatever Mesogog did to Elsa, but that isn’t the point. They may be friends, but this still needs to be Hayley’s secret. Yes, for now, she’ll handle this on her own, unless someone else comes through that portal.

 

* * *

 

It’s before sunrise when Hayley wakes with an ache in her neck from sleeping in the armchair adjacent from the couch. Rolling her shoulders, she straightens and looks over at the couch.

Elsa is sitting up with her chin on her knees, only her head sticking out from the throw, which she’s wrapped all around herself. Her gaze is unfocused, but otherwise, she seems fine.

“You look better,” Hayley tells her. “You a morning person?”

“I don’t need much sleep,” Elsa answers, voice flat.

“You sound better, too.” When Elsa doesn’t respond, Hayley clears her throat. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m not in pain.”

“Good.” Sighing, Hayley leans back in her seat. The predawn light filters in through the cracks where she didn’t quite manage to shut the drapes well last night, threatening to pull her back to sleep. She can’t, though, not with Elsa still here. She’ll leave work early and take a nap to make up for the hour or so she’s skipping now. “Do you want some coffee or—”

“It was a lie.” Now, at last, there’s some life in Elsa’s voice and eyes. She looks at Hayley and says, “All of it.”

Hayley knows what she means, but she wants to live in hope, in denial, a little longer. “What, you weren’t actually hurt last night?”

“I was using you. I was looking for the Rangers’ base.”

“Well, I was trying to get you to tell me about Mesogog’s plans.”

Snorting quietly, Elsa shakes her head. “We both failed.”

“Pretty badly, yeah.” Hayley shrugs. “That doesn’t tell me why you came here last night, though.”

“Nowhere else to go.”

“You have _plenty_ of places to go. You have the entire invisiportal network to take you anywhere in Reefside and who knows where else.” Pausing, Hayley frowns. “You really do feel safe here, don’t you?”

Elsa looks away then, and hope flares in Hayley’s chest, warm and fluttering and bright.

“It wasn’t _all_ a lie,” Hayley states, sitting up again. “Was it.”

Biting her lip, Elsa shrugs. “We both failed.”

Hayley shouldn’t feel this way, shouldn’t feel relieved, shouldn’t feel like getting up and going to Elsa and kissing her ‘til they’re both breathless.

So she wills herself to stay where she is, and says, “Pretty badly, yeah.”

Meeting her gaze, Elsa nods. Then, a few seconds of silence later, she says, “I can’t come back here. I— I have to stay by his side.”

“Why?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“Elsa—” Gripping the arms of her chair, Hayley sighs. “You’ve _got_ to tell me. If Mesogog is planning something that could actually succeed, I need to know, or else the Rangers can’t fight back, and _nobody_ wins. They’d _die_. He’d _kill_ them. He’d kill _me_.”

“All _right_. Fine. It’s called the transfiguration beam.” Squeezing her eyes shut, Elsa pulls the throw tighter around herself. “It’s going to turn people into creatures like him. If he can get enough power for it, anyway. But he’ll do it somehow. He’s— _ruthless_.”

“I know.” Hayley takes a deep breath. The magnitude of the enemy’s plan hasn’t quite hit her yet, but it’s better that way. Right now, she has to say good-bye. “Thank you. This changes everything. Now I know what to do, and we can even save you—”

“Don’t bother,” Elsa cuts in. “Just save your city. Save the world.”

None of this is at all funny, but Hayley laughs, a quiet chuckle that builds and builds until she’s breathless. In the moment of truth, Elsa would rather die than admit she wants to do what she has already done, what she began to do when both of them had stopped playing a game with each other.

“That’s not how this works,” she tells her, grin holding strong. “You’re one of us now, and we never leave an ally behind.”

Elsa’s mouth twitches into a brief, tiny smile. “I have to go back now.”

Hayley nods, and Elsa stands and walks over to her. She drapes the throw around Hayley’s shoulders, and when she straightens, she is all warrior, squared shoulders and perfect posture and fierce gaze.

She walks to the portal and looks over her shoulder at Hayley, then lifts up her hand and disappears.

 

* * *

 

“So that’s the real Elsa,” Hayley murmurs as she drives to the quarry in the mobile command center. That normal human form she’d worn now and then when she would drop in at the house, deceptively delicate-looking—that’s her. “She’s… another victim.”

“Yeah,” sighs Tommy. “I never would’ve guessed, but I should’ve. It’s his MO. Use people, turn them into something they aren’t, and throw them away when he’s done with them.”

Hands shifting on the wheel, Hayley glances at Tommy. This is definitely not the best time to tell him about the last few months, when she’d been effectively dating Elsa. At least she can say that for a fact now. It’s nice, knowing that. They’d built it on lies and espionage, but what they have—what they _had_ was strong.

She’d love to hear his take on it, though, to ask him for advice on what to do next. Just because Elsa remembers everything that happened last year (and she’d glanced at Hayley when she said that, and Hayley had felt her heart skip a beat) doesn’t mean she feels the way she did while she was under Mesogog’s control. So should Hayley broach the subject, or should she let Elsa bring it up first? Hayley doesn’t want to let her go, but she will if that’s what Elsa wants. She’ll give her space, give her time, give her friendship—anything, really, because that’s what Hayley does when she cares for someone. She respects them, and she considers their needs.

“We’ll make him pay for it,” she says, because that much she knows is right to say now. The rest—well, she’s kind of figured that out. He has helped her just by being there. “We’ll make him pay for everything he did.” Because no matter what Elsa chooses in regards to Hayley, she deserves to be free, to make her own decisions, to live like she’s always been meant to. No more unforgiving master to serve, only herself to answer to.

“Right,” he says.

The conviction in his voice is like a green light. Hayley steps on the gas and speeds up the truck, ready to help end this.

 

* * *

 

There’s so much to do in the aftermath of Mesogog’s defeat, and that’s _not_ counting getting everything ready for prom. Hayley barely has time to even worry about Elsa, who disappeared after the last battle. At least she knows she survived.

It’ll take weeks to get the command center cleaned up. Most of the equipment won’t be salvageable. It’s a shame; this was some of her best work. What’s important, though, is that it served its purpose. All of it was meant to remain a secret from the world anyway. There’s no real loss here, in the end.

Setting up for prom becomes a welcome distraction. The high school is paying her well for her trouble, and student volunteers cut the cost of additional labor. Hayley uses the savings to buy them food, cementing her reputation as a “cool adult” among them.

“I won’t defend you if you claim you were too busy helping me to do your homework,” she tells them every time, but she’s pretty sure they don’t believe her.

She dresses up for prom, memories of her own prom night all those years ago coming back unbidden. It hadn’t been bad—she’d gone with a group of friends, casually subverting the idea that _everyone_ had to have a date—but it hadn’t been great. She would’ve been happier behind the scenes, like she is now. Then again, she’s also happier than back then because the world has been saved, and how can she not feel a little pride for having played a part in the Rangers’ victory?

But more than that, it’s seeing the former Rangers relaxed and enjoying themselves as kids their age should that warms her heart. Senior year is bad enough for kids, but they’d gone above and beyond, taking on the extra stress of fighting monsters and their maniacal leader, all for the sake of the greater good.

They deserve this night.

She sees everything that goes on as she does her rounds of the space, checking the sound equipment and the lights and all the rest. Some kids sneak off (she lets them go with a warning to be careful), others try to spike the punch (she catches them just in time, every time, and confiscates all of it; the stash, kept under lock and key, ends up quite sizeable as the night winds down), others are too hormonal to wait ‘til they’re off the premises to get hands-on with one another (these she catches and gives a look that tells them everything she feels about their risky decision).

It is, when all is said and done, a success.

Building staff take care of cleanup, and Hayley packs up the equipment. Her ears ring a little in the quiet hall, and Kira’s songs keep playing in her head. She smiles, humming to herself as she works, so absorbed in her task that she doesn’t notice someone walking towards her until they’re just a few steps away.

“There’s our real hero,” says Elsa, elegant and poised as she slows to a stop in front of her.

“Nah,” answers Hayley, snapping the microphone case shut. “I’m just support. Happy to be that, though.”

“None of this would’ve been possible without you,” Elsa insists, and Hayley can tell from the look in her eyes that she means more than just prom.

“Thanks.” She shrugs, looking down as she sets the case next to the rest of her things on the floor. “I saw you dancing.” Hayley had managed to squash the urge to go ask for a dance herself. Just because they’d danced at her house doesn’t mean Elsa would want to dance with her in public. “You looked good out there, you and Mercer.”

Arching her eyebrows, Elsa smirks. “Oo, is that jealousy?”

“No—” Hayley begins, then frowns. “Why, would it bother you if it were?”

Chuckling, the sound low and dark and delighted, Elsa shakes her head. “I’d be offended if it _weren’t_.”

For a moment, Hayley is speechless. That’s good, isn’t it? That’s interest. That’s what she wants to hear. “Really.”

“I told you,” Elsa continues, and the whole of her sobers as her voice softens. “I remember everything. I know I said I’d been using you, but I meant it when I said I’d failed.”

“You said _both_ of us failed,” Hayley corrects, giving a small, smug grin. “And, yeah, we really did.”

“I’d like to go home with you tonight.” Casting a glance around the room, Elsa lowers her head a bit. “It’s good to be free, to be on my own, but… it’s been hard to stay alone in my apartment. I just— I didn’t feel right just asking you, not so soon after everything.”

“I wish you had.” Reaching over, Hayley takes her hand and laces their fingers together. “But I’m glad you finally did.”

Smiling, Elsa nods. “Thank you.”

Nodding back, Hayley lets go of her hand and reaches for one of the cases at her feet. “Help me put this stuff away,” she says, handing the case over. “The sooner we’re done, the sooner we’ll get home.”

Elsa takes the case, her smile widening. “Deal.”

The promise of starting over gives Hayley the strength to move fast, and soon they’re in her car and on their way to the house.

“You really do have beautiful hair,” Elsa says as she reaches over to tug on a lock of Hayley’s hair.

“Not while I’m driving,” Hayley scolds her, batting her hand away. “Did you forget that?”

“No. I just like how you look when I do that.”

Snickering, Hayley shakes her head. “Well, do it all you want when we get to the house.”

“I intend to.”

Hayley bites her lip and presses down a little harder on the gas. “Good.”


End file.
